A viral Facebook Live video shows a man being violently arrested in Euclid, Ohio.

A live-streamed video that was making its way around Facebook on August 12th (2017) shows a man being violently arrested in Euclid, OH. (Note: many of the people sharing the video had for some reason misidentified the location as Edina, MN.) As of right now, there aren’t a lot of details outside of what can be seen on the video. (That video is embedded below.)

Later in the evening, the Euclid Police Department did release a statement in which they said that the cops pulled a man named Richard Hubbard III, who is from Cleveland, over for a traffic violation. They then decided to arrest him for some unspecified reason. Euclid is a suburb of Cleveland.

According to the EPD statement, Hubbard refused to turn around and face away from them when the police officers ordered him to. Initially, there are two cops involved in the beating. Eventually, at least three other cops arrive and begin helping handcuff Hubbard.

The cop, that can be seen hitting Hubbard numerous times, including in the back of his head, has not been identified yet. Currently, he is on paid vacation while his co-workers perform an “investigation.”

A woman who can be seen recording with her cell phone apparently was arrested also once the other cops arrived.

Below, is the statement from the Euclid police, via Fox8.com in Cleveland:

Euclid police released a statement about the incident, saying that just before 10:30 a.m., an officer pulled over Richard Hubbard, 25, of Cleveland, for a moving/traffic violation near 240 East 228th Street.

Hubbard was ordered out of the car told to face away from the police as he was taken into custody. Police say that Hubbard ignored that order and began to physically resist as the officer took him into custody.

The violent struggle, pictured below, lasted for over 3 minutes.

Update: Partial dash cam video (also embedded below) has been released, which is included as an update to the previously cited Fox8.com post. However, it’s still not very clear even on that video why the police saw Hubbard as a threat when they initially decided to arrest him.

According to the new statement from police, Hubbard was being arrested for not having a license. In addition, although it isn’t shown on either video, the statement says that Hubbard was tased. (The taser can be seen being thrown onto the street after it apparently wasn’t effective.)

They also state that they thought he was going to run, but he appears to be boxed in between the car, the open car door, and the officer who would later assault him. It doesn’t seem like he would have much of an opportunity to run, even if that was his intention.

Bystander Video

Local News Report With Dash Cam Video

Back in May of last year, two off-duty Ohio cops that were caught driving 77 in a 35 mph zone refused to pull over and led police on a high-speed chase into a residential neighborhood. Eventually, they were stopped after they made a wrong turn and pulled into a private driveway.

It was at that point that the Fairlawn police officers pursuing them recognized them as Officers Justin Herstich and Brandon Foster, also of the Fairlawn Police Department. Instead of being arrested, beaten, and/or murdered for running from the police, they were simply allowed to leave, apparently without even having to get out of their vehicle.

Later, Officer Hertisch, who was driving at the time, was charged with failure to comply with the orders or signal of a police officer, reckless operation of a vehicle, and speeding. Of course, by the time it went to trial those charges had been “amended” to one single charge of obstructing official business. Officer Foster, the passenger, received his Policeman’s Discount right away and was not charged at all.

Last week, they officially received their “punishment.” Via News5Cleveland:

Two Fairlawn police officers, who were off-duty when they led on-duty officers on a high-speed chase, have been suspended without pay, according to law director Bryan Nace.

Officer Justin Herstich was suspended for 45 days, but 15 days were held in abeyance. He began serving the suspension this week.

Officer Brandon Foster was handed a 15-day suspension, but 10 of those days were held in abeyance.

In addition, Herstich cannot be a training officer or an officer in charge for one year. Foster can’t take on either of those roles for a period of nine months.

“There’s an economic aspect here that hits them in the pocketbook, but I also I think it sends a message that you can’t have this type of lack of judgment even when your off duty,” Nace told News 5…

Herstich faced traffic charges for speeding and reckless operation of a motor vehicle. He was also charged with willful fleeing.

The fleeing charge was reduced to obstructing official business, according to Akron Municipal Court. The officer was found guilty on the amended charge and given community service.

So yeah, I have no doubt that Nace is correct that that thirty day suspension and community service that Herstich got, along with the five days without pay Foster had to suffer through, for something anyone else would have been facing felony charges over will serve as a loud and very clear warning to them and everyone in that department that they can’t just get away with this sort of thing. Not to mention the look of disappointment over their “bad lack of judgment” he reportedly gave them the day after their little high-speed adventure.